The proliferation of mobile devices has been accompanied by the rapid growth of wired accessories that connect with the mobile devices for a variety of functions, such as data communication, battery charging and audio reproduction. The variety of cables that can be connected to a mobile device are troublesome to store and transport, especially when travelers are in a hurry. The cables can become knotted, entangled with other cables or devices, or damaged, making them difficult to use or unusable.
A number of approaches have been developed to deal with these issues, but they suffer from a variety of deficiencies such as, leaving portions of the cable exposed so that they are subject to damage, being too bulky to fit in a pocket, having a mechanical design that intrudes on the cable winding process, or being easily separated from the cable when the cable is in use.